5 Most Popular Barbecue Sauces

A homemade barbecue sauce will last only about 10 days in the fridge. However, don't use it right away. A good sauce needs about a day to rest and incorporate all the flavors.

Kansas City is renowned for its barbecue. The region traces its barbecue roots to a man named Henry Perry. In the early 1920s, Perry sold slow-cooked ribs for 25 cents a slab, covered in a succulent sauce. The Kansas City style of barbecue involves slow smoking the meat over hickory wood. Sometimes it's smoked for up to 18 hours.

Kansas City sauce is tomato based. It also contains brown sugar or molasses, adding a certain sweetness. Because it typically contains a lot of sugar, Kansas City sauce is added right before serving. Otherwise, the sugar would quickly burn from the fire.

Where other regions may concentrate only on pork or beef, Kansas City tends to serve it all. Today, the city boasts at least 100 barbecue joints.